A Follow-up or More on My Testimony
Wow! I was pleasantly surprised at the response to my testimony. Apparently, anxiety affects more people than I realized. Some readers have asked me to be specific about how God cured me. So, here it goes.
As I mentioned earlier, my anxiety was fueled by caring too much about what other people thought. Notice I said, “caring too much”. It is perfectly acceptable to care what other people think. For example, caring about what my parents thought, kept me out of trouble when I was young. Heck, truth be known, it still keeps me out of trouble. Anyway, by caring too much, I was basically trying to control the opinions of others toward me. Everyone wants to be viewed in a positive light, but people, in general, are quirky, judgmental, and unpredictable. So, how can I possibly expect to control what other people think of me? Ain’t gonna happen. There is point when I know that I have done all I can do. At the point, I have to stop worrying.
For example, let’s take a job interview. Most everyone can agree. Job interviews can produce anxiety. I do my part to prepare for the interview. I dress appropriately; I rehearse some interview questions; I get there on time. In essence, I do my part. Then I pray and ask God, “Can I do anything else?” If nothing else pops into my head, I stop worrying. Here is a popular verse about worrying: Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? (From Matthew 6)
Prioritizing my thoughts also helped my anxiety. Prioritizing meant putting God first and everything else second. Let me illustrate. One day I came to a realization, and I discovered that King Solomon had come to the same realization years ago. The following verse is from Ecclasiastes1: It is useless, useless, said the Philosopher (Solomon). Life is useless, all useless. You spend your life working, laboring, and what do you have to show for it? Generations come and generations go, but the world stays just the same. The sun still rises, and it still goes down… If one reads the rest of the story, Solomon is basically saying that everything is useless, except serving God.
Don’t get me wrong. I understand the necessities of modern life. We still need to get an education. We still need to have jobs. We still need to support our families. But when our brief lives of 75-80 years are over, we take nothing with us. The college degree stays on the wall. The 401k stays in the bank. The kids stay too, until God calls them up. So basically, we toil 75-80 years for what? Useless. Useless. It is much better to serve God. That way, we can take something tangible with us to eternity. Therefore, when I finally said that God was most important, and everything else (job, money, education) was secondary, the pressure subsided. Suddenly, all my stressors were not as important to me. And, it is hard to be anxious about things that are not as important as they used to be.
So, with any stressful situation, I prioritize my thoughts (How important is this situation in the grand scheme of eternity?). I do my part, pray, and stop worrying. I also have one other tactic. The following Bible verse is my secret, anxiety-busting weapon: For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but of power, love, and self-control (Timothy 1:7). That, my friends, is an all-powerful statement. It means that my anxiety is not coming from God, I can stop blaming him for it, and he has given me the ability to do something about it.
I hope this post helps you. Remember, it was a process for me. My anxiety was not cured overnight. You may have a relapse or two, but, God willing, you will get better and better.